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Frugal Strategy: Delayed Spending

Here is a great strategy you can use in your family to be frugal and save hundreds (or even thousands) each year. It is called “delayed spending.” What is delayed spending? Well the short answer is that delayed spending is the practice of putting off any purchases that are not necessities. Necessities, of course, is defined as anything that will help keep you alive and in good health, such as your monthly food, shelter, health and heating expenses. Any other purchase, whether it is a toy or a big screen TV, is subject to the delayed spending strategy. How does … Continue reading →

The Best Things to Buy Used: Toys 1

When you are shopping for something new, consider buying it used instead. Many items can be purchased “like new” for a fraction of the cost. Since I am a parent of three young children, I have a lot of experience with buying toys, both new and used. And for toys, used is the best bet 90 percent of the time. Kids quickly grow out of their toys or become disenchanted with them. Then parents get rid of the old toys and buy a bunch of new toys. Made of plastic, most toys are easy to clean and disinfect. Here are … Continue reading →

4 Ways to Avoid Impulse Buying

We’ve all been there, shopping around for something when something else catches our eye. We find that although we have lived without it for a lifetime, we still need to have that thing and have it now. So it ends up in our hands or cart, and our money ends up out of our bank account. Impulse buying can really rob you of your financial security, if it goes unchecked. All of those “little” purchases can certainly add up. It is best to avoid impulsing buying as much as you can. And so, I offer the following four ways to … Continue reading →

Buying Nothing

Are you capable of buying nothing but the necessities? It is harder than you might think. A couple of weeks ago, Julie G, our hardworking deals blogger introduced the concept of the five stages of deals. In the article, she listed five stages of shopping, from buying full retail to only buying necessities. She talked about a friend of hers who has a five acre waterfront property almost paid off, attributing her lack of debt to never buying anything that isn’t a necessity. Now I try to live pretty frugally, looking for deals, conserving our resources, buying used when it … Continue reading →

How to Haggle

In an earlier article, I talked about how haggling can save you big bucks. We saved more than $200 on a new refrigerator, for example. Here are some basic guidelines on how to haggle. Be Nice When haggling, I can’t emphasize enough the need to be pleasant and nice. You know the old saying about honey catching more bees than vinegar. It is true. Besides, you should be nice to whomever you interact with as you go about your day. But for haggling, this is especially important. After all, you are asking for something extra. Don’t go up to the … Continue reading →

Week in Review: February 25-March 3

Need to catch up on your frugal reading? Here is the last week of articles in review. I apologize for being a day late with my review. We will be moving in less than 30 days and have begun packing in earnest. It is amazing how much stuff we have, even though I could have sworn that we have decluttered everything we possibly could. We may a bit of a packing dent in the basement, the office and the kitchen. Anyone need a George Foreman Grill? A very dear friend gave it to me, but I haven’t used it once, … Continue reading →